Surprise
by Tanja
Summary: Mulder has a few surprises for Scully!


Title: Surprise! Surprise! 1: I came so close .... Author: Tanja E-mail address : voet@tanja-myrna.demon.nl Rating: PG Category: S, R Keywords: MSR Summary: The thought of losing Scully makes Mulder tell her his true feelings. 

Archiving: alt.tv.x-files.creative, EMXC & Gossamer. Anywhere else, feel free to do so, but please let me know where my story is going. I love visiting my stories. 

Disclaimer: Mulder, Scully, Maggie Scully and Skinner aren't mine. I only borrowed them for a little while. Of course they all belong to CC, 1013 and Fox Network. When CC wouldn't have made them, I wouldn't be writing a story about them right now. So have fun with it. The song in the last part is called When I see you smile and is from Bad English. 

Surprise! Surprise! 1: I came so close .... 

The moment he had seen Scully collapse to the floor it was as if his world had stopped turning around. He knew that he couldn't lose her, that would be like asking him to stop breathing. 

He had knelt down and taken her in his arms. The other person in the room, of whom he thought to be Linda Bowman had looked at him, saying: "Mulder, I'm here, that's not me, that's her." She had tried to convince him, but he wouldn't believe her, had been to obsessed by the idea that Scully might be dead. 

In the end he had realized that it had been Linda Bowman, but the idea that it could have been Scully had knocked him pretty hard. When the cops had come to arrest Linda Bowman and Mulder had realized that Scully was still alive, he had taken her in his arms, saying nothing, just needing to feel her close, needing proof that she was still with him. 

After a while he had let her go, mumbling that he had to go somewhere. He left the building, walking to his car, and drove back to the office without thinking. And that was were he was now. Sitting in his office, still upset, thinking of what he was going to do. 

A small knock on the door announced somebody. Skinner came walking in. Mulder didn't even try to hide that he was upset. It was written all over his face. 

Skinner sat down in the chair in front of Mulder's desk, and said "I heard what happened today." 

"Yeah, I almost shot my partner." 

"But you didn't." 

"No, but I came awfully close." 

"So that's why you're so upset right now?" 

"Wouldn't you be?" 

"I wouldn't be happy, but I think that that is not the only reason you're so upset, is it?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"I mean that you're not just upset because of the thought that you almost shot your partner, but also because you almost shot the person you love and need more than anything else in this world." 

Mulder's jaw dropped. He was speechless for a moment. 

"Why don't you tell her, you do love her don't you?" 

"Yes I do, but I.., uhm I thought that the rules of the Bureau were not to get involved with your partner." 

"Rules are there to be broken." With that Skinner had got out of his chair and left Mulder alone with his thoughts. Mulder sat at the same place for hours. Thinking what to do, not knowing if he should tell her or if he shouldn't. But in the end he decided to go tell her, after all Skinner wouldn't make problems if he did, the man had practically forced him to do so. 

So he went to Scully's apartment. Knowing that it was late, but if he didn't talk to her right then he would probably chicken out again. 

She opened the door sleepily. "Mulder, it's 1 a.m., we have to be back in the office again tomorrow at 8.30, what the hell are you doing here?" 

"I need to talk to you." 

"Can't we do that tomorrow, any normal person would be sleeping right now." 

"No, I have to do this now, if I don't, I'll probably have lost the courage to tell you tomorrow." 

"O.k. if it's really so important, come in." She yawned as they walked to her living room. They sat down on the couch. Mulder stared at his hands, not knowing where to start. 

"Are you going to tell me what's going on, or are we just going to sit here in silence." Scully was really tired after everything that had happened during the day, all she wanted was her bed, but instead of that she would probably be dragged to the other side of the country again by her partner, because he had something *interesting* to investigate. 

Mulder started to talk slowly: "Scully, do you have any idea what I felt today when I realized that I almost would shot you?" She heard the pain in his voice and placed her hand on his arm, trying to comfort him. "I know Mulder, but it wasn't your fault. She made you believe I was her. You didn't know better then that I was Linda Bowman. I would probably have done the exact same thing." 

"But that doesn't make it better!" 

"No it doesn't, but things have happened and you can't make them unhappen." 

All of a sudden he pulled her in a firm embrace. Surprised she leaned against his chest. He was really pretty knocked down by this whole situation she thought. 

"Do you know how it feels when you think that you've lost the person you love?" He mumbled against her hair. For a moment she wondered if she had really heard him saying that he loved her. He couldn't, could he? But then he said it again. 

"I love you Scully, I realized that today when I thought that I'd lost you, when I thought that I would never see your smile again, never hear you laugh again, never .." his voice trailed of. Then he heard her say: 

"I love you to." 

Two big blue eyes looked up at him, a smile on her face. A smile spread across his face to. He leaned down and they slowly kissed for the first time. After that he pulled her even closer against him and that's how they fell asleep that evening. Secure of their love. 

End of part 1 

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Title: Surprise! Surprise! 2: Doing some thinking Author: Tanja E-mail address : voet@tanja-myrna.demon.nl Rating: PG Category: S, R Keywords: MSR Summary: Mulder is doing some thinking and makes plans, which will change things a little. 

Archiving: alt.tv.x-files.creative, EMXC & Gossamer. Anywhere else, feel free to do so, but please let me know where my story is going. I love visiting my stories. 

Disclaimer: See part 1, it didn't change since then :-D! 

Surprise! Surprise! 2: Doing some thinking 

For the last few months they had been spending practically every waking and sleeping moment together. Mulder enjoyed being around Scully all the time. He was afraid they'd get on each other's nerves but they never did. 

They would go to work together, work all day, then go home, cook together and watch some television, at night falling asleep in each other's arms. He loved the feeling of waking up with Scully in his arms. 

Almost nobody knew yet that they were a couple. Skinner most likely knew, since he was the one who had told Mulder to stop being stupid by ignoring his feelings for Scully. But Skinner never asked them about it. Besides Skinner nobody else knew. They had discussed it and had decided to keep it silent for a while. 

Deep down inside Scully didn't like that they didn't tell. She didn't say anything, but Mulder knew how she felt. And now he had decided that things needed to be changed. 

In a while it would be Scully's birthday and Mulder had a few plans for that day. He was planning on asking Scully to marry him, because he couldn't imagine life without her anymore. She had become a part of him, and without that part, he knew, it would be very very hard to live. 

But he didn't just want to ask her to marry him. He wanted it to be special, he wanted all their friends and family to be around when he was going when he asked her and he wanted to have a place where they were going to live together. So he had decided to organize a surprise party for her, in their new house. 

As soon as he had made his plans, he had gone house hunting and had been doing some shopping for the ring. Surprisingly finding a house had been much easier then finding the right ring for her. He knew exactly what kind of ring he wanted to give her, but finding it had been a little bit more difficult. 

In the end, after shopping for days he had found *the* ring. He had known somebody who had showed him a couple of houses. He hadn't liked the first 3 houses he had seen, but as soon as he had seen number 4 he had known that this was *the* house. This was the place where he could imagine himself living with Scully, having children who would be playing in the backyard, and he could even imagine them after that. Older, waiting for their children and grandchildren coming to visit them. He had grinned at that thought, maybe he was getting sentimental at his age. 

The house had been in a good condition, so he wouldn't have to change too much in it. He had decorated it partly, but not everything, the rest he wanted to do together with Scully. Besides when he would have, Scully would probably have become suspicious, because of him being away all the time. 

So he didn't do that. It had to be a surprise after all. The next thing he was going to do now was talk to Scully's mom. He was going to need her help to organize the party and he would also need to talk to Skinner, his help would be necessary too. He had a lot of things to do, before the moment would be there. 

End part 2 ******************************************************************************** 

Title: Surprise! Surprise! 3: Telling mom Author: Tanja E-mail address : voet@tanja-myrna.demon.nl Rating: PG Category: S, R Keywords: MSR Summary: Mulder informs Maggie Scully about a few things and asks for her help. 

Archiving: alt.tv.x-files.creative, EMXC & Gossamer. Anywhere else, feel free to do so, but please let me know where my story is going. I love visiting my stories. 

Disclaimer: See part 1, it didn't change since then :-D! 

Surprise! Surprise! 3: Telling mom 

Maggie Scully opened the door to see Mulder standing there, a shy smile on his face. 

"Fox, is something wrong with Dana?" That was the first thought that came to her when she saw him. 

He shook his head, smiling. "No, no, she's fine, I uhm, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment?" 

"Sure come in." She led him to the living room, where he sat down on the couch. 

"Would you like to drink something?" 

"I'd love to." 

"Tea?" 

"Sounds great." She walked to the kitchen and a few minutes later she returned with two glasses of tea. 

"So what did you want to talk about? I suppose it has something to do with Dana, otherwise you wouldn't be here, would you?" 

He nodded, took a sip of his tea and said "I wanted to surprise her for her birthday." 

"What did you have in mind?" 

"Well, I was thinking of a surprise party with her family and all her friends, and ..", he paused for a moment "a few surprises, do you think she'd like that?" 

"I'm sure she'll love it, and she will definitely be surprised, especially since you usually forget her birthday." Maggie grinned at him. Mulder laughed, he remembered last year, he had forgotten Scully's birthday, she didn't want to talk to him for a few days, in the end he had found out why and he had made it up to her, but this year he couldn't forget, not now they were involved. She would probably kill him if he did, besides he had a few great ideas to celebrate. No this year would be a birthday to remember for Scully. 

"Where did you want to have the party?" 

"Oh I know a place. Actually, I'd like to show you, if you have time of course", he said, smiling secretly. 

"Sure, give me one moment to grab my coat and we can leave." 

He drove for about 15 minutes, then parked in front of a beautiful house. He got out of the car and walked to the door. She followed him curiously, wondering whose house this was. He opened the door with his key. They walked in. 

It really was a beautiful house. He showed her around. There was a kitchen, connected with a living room with a fire place and when you looked outside there was a beautiful sight, at trees and at a small lake with a couple of other houses around it. Upstairs were a bathroom and 2 other rooms. One obviously decorated as a bedroom and one looked like it was going to be a study room. 

Maggie looked around: "Fox, the house is really beautiful, but whose house is it?" 

"You think she would like living here?" 

Her eyes widened: "You mean Dana, is this your house, for her, you, you two, I mean ..." She stuttered, not knowing what to say. 

Mulder grinned, a big smile on his face, he nodded. "Yes, for both of us, so what do you think?" 

"Well ehm the house is beautiful, but shouldn't you tell her first why you want to go live here with her?" She said hesitantly. 

"You mean, because I love her, and because I want to be with her all the time, now and in the future?" 

"Um yes." 

"I already did that a couple of months ago and it worked, so I don't think it'll be necessary to explain that to her. I know she hates for the last few months we've been keeping it a secret that we are seeing each other. That's why I think it's time to get things out in the open." He looked at Scully's mom. She was surprised, but smiling. 

"I knew that there was something going on, last time I saw Dana, she looked so happy, but she denied that she was seeing someone when I asked, but you see I was right, I'm so happy for you two." She hugged Mulder enthusiastically. 

Mulder smiled "So you think she'll like it?" 

"Anybody would be crazy not to like this house!" 

"Good, then there is one other thing." 

"Anything I can help you with?" 

He laughed. "Well, I doubt that you can make the proposal for me, but I could really use some help organizing everything." 

"You're going to ask her to marry you?" 

"Yes" 

"When?" 

"Well, I was planning to do that at the birthday party, that way she will be really surprised and after that we don't have to tell anybody anymore, because they were all there." 

"Are you going to invite Walter Skinner to?" 

"Yes, why?" 

"Wouldn't that give problems with your work, when he finds out?" 

"No, I think he already knows. He was the one who told me that I should talk to Dana about my feelings and that a relationship between us wouldn't be a problem." 

"So he knows." 

"Maybe, maybe not, after that conversation we never talked about it anymore." 

"But he won't be to shocked." "I don't think so. I'm going to need his help also, so I'm going to talk to him later today." 

"Tell me what you have in mind, then I can see what I can do." 

He started to explain his plans to her. After a while, they drove back and Mulder left to go talk to Skinner. 

End of part 3 

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Title: Surprise! Surprise! 4: Sir, I need your help Author: Tanja E-mail address : voet@tanja-myrna.demon.nl Rating: PG Category: S, R Keywords: MSR Summary: Mulder asks Skinner for his help. 

Archiving: alt.tv.x-files.creative, EMXC & Gossamer. Anywhere else, feel free to do so, but please let me know where my story is going. I love visiting my stories. 

Disclaimer: See part 1, it didn't change since then :-D! 

Surprise! Surprise! 4: Sir, I need your help 

Mulder knocked on the door of Skinner's office. 

"Come in." 

Mulder opened the door and walked in. 

"Agent Mulder may I help you?" He motioned Mulder to sit down. 

"Well actually, yes, I could use your help with something." 

"Tell me, and I'll see what I can do." 

"I'm organizing a birthday party for Scully." 

"I already was afraid that you were going to forget again this year." Skinner laughed. 

"I'd better not, I clearly remember last year when I forgot, and if her boyfriend forgets her birthday this year she'd probably never forgive me 

Like Mulder had expected, Skinner wasn't surprised at all. "I'm glad you took my advice and talked to her, I must say that I wasn't completely sure if you did, so you two must have been very discrete." 

"We thought that it would be better to keep it silent for a while, but I'm planning to ask her to marry me, so that would get things out in the open of course. Would that be a problem?" 

"I doubt it, everybody here has been thinking that you were a couple long before you actually were." 

"They did?" 

"Don't tell me you don't know, even pools are going around about when and if you two would get together!" 

"Honestly I had no idea." 

"Well, they do. But I don't see how I can help you? Do you need help organizing the party?" 

"No, I've got that part covered. Scully's mom is helping me with that. I want you to help me to make Scully think that I'm forgetting her birthday again." 

"How?" 

"Call a meeting in 5 days, to discuss a case, and at the end you tell me that I will have to go to San Diego, or something to investigate a case, alone." 

"And what if she wants to go with you?" 

"She can't, because you need her here, to investigate another case. I'll tell you that it'll be no problem and that I'll go immediately, that way she'll definitely think that I'm forgetting again, her mother will call her today, to invite her for a birthday dinner, of course she'll say no, because she thinks that I won't forget. Right after the meeting her mother will call her again, to invite her once again for dinner." 

"She will be very mad at you, are you sure about this?" 

"Oh yes, she will be mad, but I'll take that risk. I want her to be really surprised." 

"I think she will be. Okay if you want to do it like this, you can count on me, on one condition." 

"And that is?" 

"That I'm invited to this party, I wouldn't want to miss it for the world." 

"You can count on an invitation, thanks Sir." Mulder got out of his chair, shaking Skinner's hand and he left he office. 

Things were exactly going as he had planned them. 

End of part 4 

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Title: Surprise! Surprise! 5: To make you think .... Author: Tanja E-mail address : voet@tanja-myrna.demon.nl Rating: PG Category: S, R Keywords: MSR Summary: With Skinner's help, Mulder makes Scully think that he's going to forget her birthday again. 

Archiving: alt.tv.x-files.creative, EMXC & Gossamer. Anywhere else, feel free to do so, but please let me know where my story is going. I love visiting my stories. 

Disclaimer: See part 1, it didn't change since then :-D! 

Surprise! Surprise! 5: To make you think .... 

5 DAYS LATER 

Scully was still asleep when the phone rang. She slowly opened one eye, wondering what that annoying noise was that she heard. Then she realized it was the phone. She reached to pick it up. Mulder who was lying asleep next to her, stirred a little. 

"Scully." 

"Agent Scully, good morning." It was Skinner on the other side of the line. 

"Sir, is something wrong?" She felt a couple of arms snaking around her waist, pulling her closer. She giggled and the phone nearly fell out of her hands. "Shh", she tried to push him away. 

"Agent Scully, are you still with me?" Skinner asked. 

"Yes Sir, I am, how can I help you?" 

"I want you and Agent Mulder to be in my office in 2 hours, there's a meeting." 

"I'll be there Sir, and I'll call Mulder to tell him." After that she hang up the phone. 

Mulder was awake now to. "Who was that?" 

"That was Skinner, we are supposed to be in his office for a meeting in two hours." 

"In two hours, well that's not now, so we still have some time, don't we?" He pulled her closer again, kissing her. 

"Mmhm, we have". She grinned and kissed him back. 

TWO HOURS LATER J. EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING A.D. SKINNER'S OFFICE 

They arrived at Skinner's office on time. Kimberly, Skinner's secretary, asked them to sit down for a moment, while she would tell Skinner that they were there. 

5 minutes later she told them that they could go in. 

"Agent Mulder, Agent Scully, take a seat please." 

"You are probably wondering why I called a meeting?" He looked at them, when Scully didn't look, Mulder grinned at him for a moment. Scully nodded, and so did Mulder, he had to play the game of course. 

"Well, there are two problems. The first one is a problem we are having with a case in San Diego. We can't seem to solve the case even though we've been working on it for weeks. Agent Mulder your help is requested there. We need you to go there as soon as possible, and it might take a couple of days to solve this case, I assume that it'll be no problem for you to go?" He asked Mulder, pulling his most serious face. 

Mulder pretended to be thinking if he had anything else to do, then said: "No Sir, that won't be a problem at all. I can be there as long as necessary, I've got nothing important to do here this week." 

Skinner saw that Scully's face fell for a moment, but she brought back on a professional smile quickly. 

"Great, well the other problem we are having is with a case here in Washington. Agent Scully, your help is requested for the autopsy." 

Before she could protest, he said: "Good, that's settled, I'll talk to both of you later this week. You're dismissed." 

They got out of their chairs and left Skinner's office. 

"Well, I guess you'll have to do without me for a few days Scully", Mulder said. 

"Guess so, I'll see you when you get back Mulder", she was about to turn around, obviously mad at him. 

"Scully wait", he grabbed her hand. 

"What!!", she snapped, pulling her hand away from his. 

"What's wrong, did I say or do something wrong?" 

"Mulder, the fact that you don't even know what you did wrong, is ...", she was getting angrier every minute. 

"Is what?" 

"Is saying enough about you, you are a real jerk sometimes Mulder!" Her voice became louder and people started to watch them. 

"Scully, I don't think we should discuss this here, let's go to our office and .." 

Before he could finish, she interrupted him: "I don't have anything else to discuss with you Mulder, have a nice flight to San Diego!" She turned around and walked away from him. 

He sighed, but didn't go after her. Things were exactly going as planned. He felt a little guilty about doing this to her, but he would make it up to her, and this was necessary for his plan. 

He walked to his car, in the mean time calling Skinner. 

"Did it work?" Skinner asked immediately after he picked up the phone. 

"Yes, she's really very mad at me, because she's convinced I'm forgetting again." 

"So things are going following plan." 

"Couldn't go better. I'll see you tomorrow night." 

"I'll be there." 

After that they hang up. 

Knowing that she wouldn't be talking to him right now, Mulder called to her apartment and left a message on her answering machine to make it even more convincing. 

After that, he drove to the house, where he was meeting Maggie to arrange the last things for the party. 

End of part 6 

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Title: Surprise! Surprise! 7: He forgot! Again! Author: Tanja E-mail address : voet@tanja-myrna.demon.nl Rating: PG Category: S, R Keywords: MSR Summary: Scully is mad at Mulder because she thinks he's forgetting her birthday again. 

Archiving: alt.tv.x-files.creative, EMXC & Gossamer. Anywhere else, feel free to do so, but please let me know where my story is going. I love visiting my stories. 

Disclaimer: See part 1, it didn't change since then :-D! 

Surprise! Surprise! 7: He forgot! Again! 

In the time that Mulder had talked to Skinner and was driving to the house to meet Maggie, Scully had decided to go home. She was upset and it was not like she was going to get anything done right now, so she went home. 

Slamming the door behind her, she walked into her apartment. She sank down on the couch, took a look at her answering machine and saw that the red light was blinking. 

She knew that it would probably be Mulder with one of his stupid excuses. With a sigh, she decided to listen to it anyway. She pushed the button. 

"Scully, it's me, look I don't know what I've done wrong, but I would really like to know, so call me." 

So he still hadn't found out what he was doing wrong, well she wasn't going to tell him. If he wouldn't figure it out himself, well then he was, he was..., well a jerk. At least, that's what she had kindly informed him an hour ago. 

Still mad, she sat down again. She was starting to have second thoughts. Had she been to hard on him? Should she have told him why? After all, it wasn't like it was the first time he had done it, he never remembered her birthday. In the five years that they had been working together, he had remembered it exactly one time. But no, they had been dating for a couple of months, he could at least have tried to remember it this year or was that so much to ask? 

She spend the rest of the afternoon on her couch in her pajamas and with a can of ice cream. She tried to call her mother a couple of times, but nobody answered the phone. 

The night was starting to fall, when she heard a knock on her door. With a sigh she got up from the couch, wondering who that would be, it couldn't be Mulder he would be in San Diego by now. She looked through the peephole to see that it was her mother. She quickly opened the door. 

"Mom, hi what are you doing here?" 

"I was looking for you, boy you look like you can use some company, is something wrong sweetheart?" 

Scully shook her head, trying unsuccessfully to smile at her mother. "I'm fine Mom, nothing to worry about." 

"I can see you're not fine, why don't you tell me what's wrong." Maggie knew exactly why her daughter was so upset, but she had to play the game. 

"I can't mom." 

"Has it something to do with your birthday?" 

Scully nodded. 

"Let me guess, it has also something to do with that dark haired partner of yours?" 

Scully nodded again. 

"He forgot again, didn't he?" Maggie concluded. 

"Yes, Skinner asked him to go to San Diego and he ran off, saying he had nothing important to do anyway!" She still sounded angry. 

"Well, it's not like he usually remembers, so why are you so upset this time?" Maggie kind of enjoyed this, boy her daughter would be in for a surprise tomorrow. 

"I know, but I just thought that now that .." Scully stopped it there. 

"Now that what?" 

"Now that things are different, I thought that at least this time he'd remember!" 

"What's so different this year?" 

"I, he, we, uhm, g how do I say this?" 

"You are involved?" 

"Yes, how did you know that I was going to say that?" 

"Oh lucky guess, but look sweetheart that invitation for dinner tomorrow night still stands, want to come?" 

"I don't know mom, maybe I'll just stay home." 

"To spend your birthday alone, in front of the television, feeling sorry for yourself all night? Oh no young lady, you are coming with me tomorrow night. I don't want to hear no for an answer, I'll pick you up at 7 o'clock, be ready!" After that she said goodbye to her daughter, who had no other choice then to accept the invitation, and she left. 

Maggie drove home, where Mulder was waiting for her impatiently. Before she could sit down he asked: "And, what did she say, was she still mad?" 

"Well, yes she was mad", she saw the look of guilt on his face, "but don't worry she'll forgive you when she finds out why you did it." 

"You invited her for dinner?" 

"Yes, I'll pick her up at 7, just like we've discussed, and we will be at the house around 8." 

"Great, okay I'm going now, I'll see you tomorrow mom." He still had to get used to calling her that, but she had insisted. He left, only one day to go now. 

End of part 7 

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Title: Surprise! Surprise! 8: Can't live without Author: Tanja E-mail address : voet@tanja-myrna.demon.nl Rating: PG Category: S, R Keywords: MSR Summary: Scully thinks she's going to have dinner with her mother, but it turns out that Mulder has a few other things planned for her. Archiving: alt.tv.x-files.creative, EMXC & Gossamer. Anywhere else, feel free to do so, but please let me know where my story is going. I love visiting my stories. 

Disclaimer: See part 1, it didn't change since then :-D! 

Author's notes: O.k. here's the last part of the story. Have fun with it. 

Surprise! Surprise! 8: Can't live without 

Scully was getting dressed for dinner with her mother. Earlier that day her mother had called her at work, telling her to wear something dressy for the night, because they were going to go to a fancy restaurant. 

It had been strange today, without Mulder. A few people had wished her a happy birthday, even Skinner, who had smiled secretly, almost like something was going on. Mulder however, hadn't even called. Well, nothing to do about that. She was going to enjoy her birthday, with or without Mulder, with a sigh she fixed her hair for the last time. 

At 7 o'clock exactly her mother arrived, wishing her a happy birthday. 

"Are you ready sweetheart?" 

"Yes, let's go before I change my mind and want to stay home after all." 

Arriving at the car, Scully asked: "Where are we going mom?" 

"You'll see." They drove for a while, talking about all kind of things. 

Maggie realized that Dana was avoiding the subject Mulder. "So did Fox call you today?" 

Dana said, still a little sad: "No mom, he didn't, but if you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about that tonight." 

"You're the birthday girl." 

After another 15 minutes, they were driving to the house. Scully suddenly realized that this wasn't a restaurant. 

"Mom, this doesn't look like a restaurant to me, why are we stopping here?" 

"The restaurant was on our way, I promised a friend to pick something up for her." Maggie parked the car in front of the house, which was completely dark. 

She got out, waiting for Dana to follow her. "Aren't you coming honey?" 

"Oh, I'll wait in the car." 

"I'd like to introduce you." 

"Mom.." 

"Come on Dana, only a few minutes, I promise." 

With a sigh, Scully got out of the car. Looking at the house, she frowned and said: "Are you sure your friend is home, the house is completely dark." 

"She said she would probably be home, but in case she wouldn't, she gave me a key, so that I could get the package myself." Maggie showed her a key. 

They used the doorbell, but of course nobody opened the door. Maggie pretended to sigh. "Well, I guess she's not home after all, to bad, well I'll get the package and we can go." She opened the door and they walked in. 

"Did she say where she would leave the package?" 

"She said she would put it in the living room." Walking there, Scully commented: "Nice house, where .." Before she could finish, lights went on and people yelled: "Surprise!!!!" 

Scully felt a couple of arms snaking around her, sweeping her off her feet and heard a voice she knew very well saying: "You really thought that I was going to forget your birthday Scully?" 

She looked up into the face of a smiling Mulder. "You, how, I.." 

"Happy birthday Scully", he leaned down and kissed her tenderly. 

People were waiting patiently to congratulate her, until Skinner said "Mulder, there are more people here who would like to wish her a happy birthday", he grinned. 

Scully got out of Mulder's embrace, blushing furiously. She looked around and saw a lot of friends, some colleagues and family. Everybody was congratulating her. People were walking around, talking, dancing. Her mother came walking to them, grinning. 

"Surprised sweetheart?" 

"You knew about this!!?!!" She looked from her mother to Mulder. 

Her mother laughed. "I knew, but it was his idea", she said pointing at Mulder. After that, she walked away, leaving the two of them alone. 

Scully looked at Mulder, who pulled her closer in his arms. 

"I still don't understand Mulder, I thought you were in San Diego?" 

"That's what I wanted you to think." 

"There was no case at all?" She looked at him, her eyes open wide. 

He shook his head, grinning. "No, we made up a case, so that you would really think that I was forgetting again." 

"And it worked, I really believed you forgot." 

"So can you forgive me for lying to you?" He said, half joking, half serious. 

She pretended to be thinking about that, then: "I might forgive you, if you dance with me." 

"Your wish is my command my lady." He offered her his arm and they walked to the dance floor. They danced close. 

Sometimes I wonder how I'd ever make it through Through this world without having you I just wouldn't have a clue 'Coz sometimes it seems like this world's closing in on me And there's no way of breaking free And then I see you reach for me 

Sometimes I wanna give up, I wanna give in I wanna quit the fight And then I see you baby And everything's alright, everything's alright 

When I see you smile, I can face the world Oh oh, you know I can do anything When I see you smile, I see a ray of light, oh oh I see it shining right through the rain When I see you smile Baby when I see you smile at me 

How true those words were, Mulder thought with a smile. No matter how bad I feel, one smile from her is always enough to make me feel better. One frightening moment he had thought that he would never see that smile again, the moment he had thought she was dead, because Linda Bowman had shot her, but it hadn't been her. And the moment he(and Skinner) had opened his eyes, wide, very wide. And he had finally done what he should have done much earlier, and it had given him all he'd ever wanted. Scully in his life, not only see her smile at work, but also after that, before they would go to sleep and when he woke up, always. And he wouldn't give that up, not ever. The music played on, while they danced in silence. 

Baby there's nothing in this world that could ever do What a touch of your hand can do It's like nothing that I ever knew 

And when the rain is falling I don't feel it, 'coz you're here with me now And one look at you baby Is all I'll ever need It's all I'll ever need 

When I see you smile, I see a ray of light, oh oh I see it shining right through the rain When I see you smile, baby Baby when I see you smile at me 

Sometimes I wanna give up, I wanna give in I wanna quit the fight Then one look at you baby And everything's alright, everything's alright So right 

When I see you smile, I can face the world Oh oh, you know I can do anything When I see you smile, I see a ray of light, oh oh I see it shining right through the rain, yeah When I see you smile, I can face the world Oh oh, you know I can do anything When I see you smile, oh yeah Baby when I see you smile, smile at me 

While the music faded away, they let go of each other. Only now Scully realized that she didn't know whose this house was from. 

"Mulder, who's house is this?" She asked curiously. He smiled secretly, but didn't answer her question. Instead of that he let go of her hand and walked to the middle of the living room. She looked surprised and wondered what he was going to do. 

Mulder cleared his throat and asked everybody for their attention for a moment. Everybody who had been dancing, walking or talking stopped doing that and turned around to look at Mulder. Skinner and Maggie knew exactly what was going to happen and they grinned at each other. All the other people were waiting curiously for what was going to come. 

Mulder started to talk, his gaze directed at Scully. "Scully, I know you thought I was going to forget your birthday again", he grinned to everybody, saying: "For which I can't blame her, since it wouldn't be the first time that I forget", looking at Scully he said: "don't say you weren't thinking that Scully." She blushed. "But", he continued his story "this year I didn't forget her birthday, if I would have, she probably would have killed me, I've had the pleasure experiencing being shot by her before, so I doubt if she would hesitate to do it again if I forgot. So that's why I remembered, that plus the fact that I had a few things I wanted to do on her birthday." 

He walked to Scully and stood in front of her. "Scully, I know you've been through a lot with me, a lot of things have happened in the last five years, lord knows if I could make a few things unhappen I would, but unfortunately that's not possible. Despite that you didn't run away, you stayed with me, you saved me again and again, most of all by the love you gave me. When I thought you were dead a few months ago, I thought I'd lost you forever, it wasn't you, but it made me think, that and the fact that somebody told me that I was being stupid by not telling you that I loved you", he looked over his shoulder at Skinner who smiled, "The best decision I've ever taken is telling you I love you, and you made it even better by telling me you loved me back. I never thought that it would be possible, but after the last few months with you, I know that now it would even feel worse when I would lose you. I can't live without you anymore, so", he dropped down on one knee and took a little box out of his pocket, opening it he said: "will you please live here with me and marry me Dana Scully?" 

She looked like she was going to cry and at the same time she was grinning like a fool. "Yes, of course I want to marry you!" Before she knew it she was swept of her feet by Mulder and he was kissing her tenderly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. 

After a few minutes they became aware of their surroundings again. Mostly because people were clapping and shouting. Mulder let go of Scully and grinned at her. She blushed and then Maggie hugged both of them, congratulating them. After that Skinner followed and so did all the other people. 

When everybody had calmed down a little, people started to dance and talk again. Mulder took Scully's hand and pulled her to the dance floor. Happy she leaned against his chest. 

"So this is your house?" 

"Our house", he corrected her and pulled her even closer in his arms, sighing happily. 

And they danced, both thinking how happy they were and thinking of a future that they would be building together. 

The End 

This was it. Please tell me what you think of it. Feedback welcome at voet@tanja- myrna.demon.nl 

Visit more of my stories at: http://www.angelfire.com/oh/xfshippers/index.html 


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